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A  UTHOR 


J 


TITLE: 


AT 


ME 


PLACE: 

N.L 

DA  TE : 

1892 


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MMD:      OR:     POL:     DM: 

040     NNCt-cNNC 

100  10  Lanciani,  Rodolfo. 

245  14   The  pageant  at  Rome  in  the  year  17  B 

260  0   Atlantic  Monthly ,{:cl892. 

300     145-153  p, 

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Association  for  information  and  Image  IManagement 

1100  Wayne  Avenue,  Suite  1100 
Silver  Spring.  Maryland  20910 

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""■""■n"!""!'" 


[Imihmlm 
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4         5 

liiiiliiiili 


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7        8        9 

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MQNUFfiCTURED   TO   flllM   STRNDFIRDS 
BY   RPPLIED   IMfiGE-     INC. 


THE 


ATLANTIC    MONTHLY: 

9  iHaga?inc  of  Literature,  Science,  art,  auD  l^oliticg. 

Vol.  LXIX.^ FEBRUARY,  1892,  — No,  CCCCXfL 


THE   PAGEANT  AT   ROME   IN  THE   YEAR   17   B.  C. 


Ix  the  eai  ly  days  of  Rome,  the  north- 
west section  of  the  Ciiinpus  Martins,  bor- 
dering on  the  Tiber,  was  (•onsi)i('uoiis  for 
traces  of  volcanic  activity.     There  was  a 
jmol,  called  Tarentuni,  or  Terentum,  fed 
by  hot  snlphur  si)rings,  the  hygienic  effi- 
ciency of  whidi  is  certified  by  the  cure 
of  Volesus  8abinus  and  his  family,  de- 
scribed by  Valerius  Maximus.     Heavy 
vapors  hung  over  these  hot  springs,  and 
occasionally  tongues  of  flame  were  seen 
issuing  from  the  cracrks  of  the  earth.     It 
is  no  wonder  tliat  the  superstition  of  the 
early  inhabitants  of  the  seven  hills  should 
have  been  aroused  by  these  phenomena. 
The  locality  became  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Fiery  Field   (Campus  Ignifer), 
and    its    relationship   with   the  infernal 
realms  was  soon  an  established  fact  in 
folk  lore.    In  progress  of  time  the  super- 
stition was  transformed  into  an  article 
of  religion.    An  altar  to  the  infernal  gods 
was  erected  on  the  border  of  the  jwol ; 
and  the  locality  was  selected  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  ludl  SLvculares.     The  ori- 
gin and  the  liistory  of  these  celebrations 
have  been  amply  illustrated  by  Gesner,^ 
although  his  work  is  rather  antiquated. 
Varro's  account  of  the  games,   quoted 
by  Censorinus,  proves  that,  in  republi- 
can times,  they  were  held  in  honor  of 
Dis  and  Proser])ina,  on  an  altar  sunk 
twenty  feet  below  the  level  of  the  ground, 
and  lasted  tln-ee  nights,  the  victims  being 
a  black  bull  and  a  black  cow.    Tradition 
attributed  this  arrangement  of  time  and 

^  De  Aunis  LiulLsqiie  Ssecularibus  Veterum 
Kumauunuu,  1717. 


ceremonial  to  Volesus  himself,  who,  to 
show  his  gratitude  for  the  miraculous 
recovery  of  his  three  children,  offered 
sacrifices  to  Dis  and  Proserpina,  spread 
lectktenda  for  the  gods,  and  held  fes- 
tive games  for  three  successive  nights, 
one  for  each  cliild  restored  to  health. 
In    republican   times    they   were  called 
lud'i   Tarentbii,  from  the  name  of  the 
awe-inspiring  pool,  and  they  were  cele- 
brated for  the  purpose  of  averting  from 
the  state  the  recurrence  of  some  great 
calamity  by  which  it  had   been  afflict- 
ed.    Tliese  calamities  being  contingen- 
cies which  no  man  could  foresee,  it  is 
evident  that  the  celebration  of  the  ludi 
Tarentini  was  in  no  way  connected  with 
certain  cycles  of  time,  such  as  the  sm- 
culum.     Altliough  there  is  considerable 
discrepancy  among  writers  as  to  the  dates 
and  number  of  celebrations  in  republican 
times,  the  following  figures  seem  to  come 
as  near  the  truth  as  possible  :  — 


First  Tarentine  games 
Second  Tarentine  games 
Third  Tarentine  games   . 
Fourth  Tarentine  games 


A.  u.  c. 

245 
;J05 
505 
608 


Totally  different  are  the  calculations 
made  by  the  College  of  the  Quindecim- 
viri  Sacris  Faciundis  in  the  time  of  Au- 
gustus, according  to  which  the  games 
must  have  been  held  in  tlie  years  298, 
408,  518,  628.  The  reason  of  these 
conflicting  statements  is  evident.  Not 
long  after  Augustus  had  assumed  the 
supreme  power,  the  Quindecimviri  an- 
nounced  that   it   was   the   will   of  the 


146 


The  Pagpfnii  (tt  Rome  in  the   Fear  17  B,    C.     [February, 


t^ods  lliat  luili  s:rculares  slumld  hv  pt'i- 
foiiiH'd  ;  and,  inisiei»iest'iitini;-  and  dis- 
tortini;  tlati's  aiul  events,  tried  to  prove 
that  tiie  festival  liad  been  held  regular- 
ly at  intervals  of  one  luuuhed  and  ten 
years,  which  was  tlie  exact  length  of 
a  sieculiim.  The  games  of  which  the 
Qiiindeciniviri  made  tins  assertion  were 
the  Tarentini,  instituted,  as  shown  above, 
for  «iuite  a  different  purpose.  The  sug- 
gestion of  the  Quindecimviri  came  at  the 
right  moment  in  the  new  order  of  things, 
and  was  too  pleasing  to  Augustus  and 
to  the  people  to  be  despised.  Setting 
aside  all  disputes  about  chronology  and 
tradition,  the  celebration  was  ai)pointed 
for  the  summer  of  7.' 57  a.  u.  c  ;  that  is, 

17  15.  c. 

What  was  the  exact  location  of  the 
sulphur  springs  of  the  Tarentum  and  of 
the  altar  of  the  infernal  gods  ?  I  shall 
always  consider  the  discovery  of  the  al- 
tar of  Dis  and  Proserpina  as  the  most 
satisfactory  I  have  made,  especially  be- 
cause I  made  it,  in  a  certain  sense,  when 
away  from  Rome  on  a  long  leave  of  ab- 
sence. The  discovery,  of  which  I  have 
given  ample  account  in  my  book,  LTtin- 
erario  di  Einsiedeln,  page  108,  took 
place  in  the  winter  of  1886-87,  during 
my  visit  to  America.  At  that  time, 
the  work  of  opening  and  draining  the 
new  Corso  Yittorio  Emmanuele  had  just 
reached  a  [dace  which  was  considered 
terra  incognita  by  the  topographers,  and 
marked  by  a  blank  spot  in  the  archaeo- 
logical majjs  of  the  city.  I  mean  the 
district  between  the  Vallicella  (la  Chiesa 
Nnova,  the  Palazzo  Cesarini,  etc.)  and 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  by  S.  Giovanni 
del  Fiorentini.  The  reports  of  the  su- 
Ijerintendents,  pubhshed  monthly  in  the 
Bullettino  Archeologico,  spoke  vaguely 
of  the  discovery  of  five  or  six  parallel 
walls  built  of  blocks  of  peperino;  of 
marble  steps  in  the  centre  of  tiiis  sin- 
gular monument ;  of  doors  with  marble 
l)osts  and  architraves,  serving  as  com- 
nmnication  for  tlie  spaces  between  the 
six  })arallel  walls  ;  and  finally,  of  a  *'  col- 


unm  with  the  surface  carved  in  leaf- 
work."  On  my  return  to  Rome  in  the 
spring  of  1887,  every  trace  of  the  monu- 
ment liad  disappeared  under  the  em- 
bankment of  the  Corso  Vittorio  Em- 
niaimele.  I  questioned  workmen  and 
foremen  ;  I  consulted  the  notebooks  of 
contractors  ;  1  visited  every  day  the  ex- 
cavations still  going  on,  on  each  side  of 
the  Corso,  for  building  the  Villa,  Caval- 
letti,  and  Bassi  palaces;  and  lastly,  I 
examined  the  *'  colunm  with  the  surface 
carved  in  leaf-work,"  which  had  been  re- 
moved to  the  courtyard  of  the  Palazzo 
dei  Conservatori  on  the  Capitol.  This 
fragment  of  marble,  the  only  one  saved 
from  the  excavations,  gave  me  the  clue 
to  the  mystery.  It  was  not  a  column  ;  it 
was  the  pnlrbius,  or  volute,  of  a  colossal 
marble  altar,  worthy  of  being  compared 
in  size  and  perfection  of  work  with  the 
altar  of  Peace  discovered  under  the  Pa- 
lazzo Fiano,  witli  the  altar  of  the  Anto- 
nines  discovered  under  the  Monte  Cito- 
rio,  and  with  other  like  structures  of 
monumental  size.  There  was  no  more 
hesitation  in  determining  the  nature  of 
the  discoveries  made  in  the  Corso  Vitto- 
rio Enmianuele  ;  an  altar  had  been  found 
there,  and  this  altar  must  have  been  the 
one  sacred  to  Dis  and  Proserpina,  as 
no  other  is  mentioned  in  history  as  hav- 
ing a  place  in  the  northwest  section  of 
the  Campus  Martius. 

The  designs  which  illustrate  my  ac- 
count of  the  find  prove  that  the  altar 
rose  on  a  ])latform  twelve  feet  square, 
approached  on  all  sides  by  three  or  four 
marble  steps;  that  i)latform  and  altar 
were  inclosed  by  three  lines  of  walls,  at 
an  interval  of  thirty-six  feet  from  each 
other ;  and  that  on  the  east  side  of  the 
square  ran  a  eurlpas,  or  channel,  eleven 
feet  wide  and  four  deep,  lined  with  stone 
blocks,  the  incline  of  which  (about  1:100) 
is  towards  the  Tiber.  This  last  find 
proves  that  when  the  rough  altar  of 
Volesus  Sabinus  was  succeeded  by  the 
present  noble  construction  the  pool  was 
drained,  and  its  feeding-sjnings  were  led 


1892.]  The  Pageant  at  Rome  hi  the    r.rn-  17  E.    C. 


...to  the  c.uri,,u,s,  s„  tl^^t  the  patients  seek- 
ing a  cure  for  their  ailments  coukl  bathe 
.n  or  dnnk  the  .nira,Je-vv„rking  waters 
with  greater  ease. 

No  attention  whatever  was  paid  to  the 
discovery  at  the  time  it  took  place.     In- 
stead of  reaching  the  antique  level,  the 
excavation   for  the  main  sewer  of  the 
Corso  Vittorio  Emmanuele  was  stopped 
at  the  wrong  place,  within  three  feet  of 
the  pavement ;  and  consequently,  wliat- 
ever  fragments  of  the  altar,  of  inscrip- 
tions of  works  of  art,  were  lying  on  the 
marble  floor  will  lie  tliere  forever,  as 
the  building  of  palaces  on  each  side  of 
t^ie  Corso,  and  the  construction  of   the 
Corso  itself,  with  its  costly  sewers,  side- 
walks, etc.,  have  made  further  research 
impossible,  at    least   with   our   present 
means. 

TJie  discovery  of  the  altar  of  Dis  and 
Proserpina  has  been  confirmed  by  an- 
other find.     Zosimus  locates  it  in   the 
Campus  Martius,  near  the  field  called 
Irigaruim,  in   which  wild  horses  were 
tamed  and  trained  to  run  three  abreast 
^trigm)        Where   was    the   Trigarium 
then?     Preller  places  it  near  the   Pa- 
^zzo  della  Cancellaria,  Canina  near  the 
Pantheon,  others  near  the  Monte  Cito- 
no  ;  all  wrongly,  as  proved  by  the  fol- 
lowing discovery. 

In  August,  1887,  the  engineers  of  the 
riber  brought  to  light  a  stone  cippus. 
lying  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  near 
the  church  of  S.  Biagio  della  Pagnotta, 
withm  three  hundred  yards  of  the  al- 
tar of  Dis  and  Proserpina.     The  work- 
men, supposing  it  to  be  a  worthless  block 
of  travertine,  broke  it  into  many  pieces  ; 
and  when  an  inscription  of  the  highest 
importan(.e  was  finally  discovered  on  the 
surface  of  the  block  facing  the  ground 
some  fragments  were   already  missing! 
The  inscription,  which  can  be  easily  sup- 
phed  m  the  lost  portions,  relates  how, 
in  the  year  47  A.  d.,  a  committee  of  five 
eminent  men,  of  which  Paullus  Fabius 
Persicus,  ex-consul,  was  the   chairman, 
had  been  directed  by  the  Emperor  Clau- 


147 

dius  to  verify  and  nmrk  with  rjppl  the 
boundary  h'ne  between  public  and  private 
property  on  tlie  left  bank  of  the  Tiber  • 
and  how  they  had  fulfilled  their  mis! 
sion  cippls  positls  a  Trlgario  ad  pontem 
Agrvppm  (by  raising  terminal  stones  be- 
tween the  Trigarium  and  the  bridge  of 
Agrippa) }     It  is  evident,  therefore,  that 
the  locality  indicated  as  a  terminus  a 
quo  was  very  near  the  place  in  which 
the  cippus  was  found,  and  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  altar  of  the  infernal  gods 
and  the  hot  springs,  as  stated  by  Zosi- 
mus. 

This  beautiful  series  of  discoveries,  in 
which  each  so  well  fits  into  the  others 
has  been  completed  by  a  later  one,  thj 
importance  of  which  far  exceeds  our  most 
ardent  hopes. 

On  the  20th  of  Sei)tember,  1890,  the 
anniversary  day  of   the   annexation  of 
Kome  to  the  kingdom,  the  workmen  em- 
ployed  m  the  construction  of  the  main 
sewer,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber  be- 
tween tlie  Ponte  S.  Angelo  and  the  church 
ot  S.  Giovanni  dei  Fiorentini,  found  a 
mediaeval  waU,  built  from  materials  of 
every   kind   and    description,    collected 
at  random  from  the  neighboring  ruins. 
Among  them  there  were  irregular  blocks 
of  marble,  bearing  fragments  of  one  or 
more  inscriptions  which  described   the 
celebration  of  the  ludi  sseculares  in  impe- 
rial  times.    By  the  end  of  the  day  seven- 
teen pieces  had  been  recovered,  seven  of 
which  belonged  to  a  record  of  the  games 
celebrated  under  Augustus  in  the  year 
17  B.  c,  the  others  to  those  celebrated 
under  Septimius  Severus  and  Caracalla 
in  the  year  204  a.  d.     Later  researches 
led  to  the  discovery  of  ninety-six  more 
fragments,  making  a  total  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirteen,  of  which  eight  are  of 
the  time  of  Augustus,  the   rest   of  tlie 
time  of  Severus. 

The  fragments  of  the  year  17  b.  c.  fit 
together  so  as  to  make  a  block  three  me- 

^  Remains  of  this  bridg-e  have  been  discov- 
ered n,  the  bed  of  the  river  100  metres  above 
the  modern  Ponte  Sisto. 


148 


Thi'   PiU/eant  at   Rtmie  hi   the    Vcar  17   />.    T.      [February, 


1892.] 


Thv  Payed nt  at  Home  in  the    Fear  17  B.    C. 


149 


ties  hiuh,  containiiii'-  one  humlred  and 
sixty-eight  lines  of  miimte  writing.  The 
monument  has  the  .shai)e  of  a  square  pil- 
hir  inelosed  hy  a  [nujeeting  frame,  witli 
hase  and  capital  of  the  Tuscan  order  ; 
it  measured,  when  entire,  four  metres  in 
heiiilit  and  one  and  twelve  hunch'edths 
in  widtli.  The  form  of  the  letters  is  ex- 
<-ellent.  as  hecomes  the  golden  Augustan 
age. 

The  text  lias  heen  admiraldy  edited 
l)y  Professor  Mommsen,  at  the  request 
of  the  Italian  government.^  The  difti- 
eulty  and  extent  of  the  task,  and  the 
time  necessary  for  preparing  the  twelve 
plates,  explain  the  reason  why  an  in- 
s<-ription  of  such  inijxn'tance,  discovered 
on  September  20,  1890,  was  not  made 
known  to  students  until  thirteen  months 
later. 

I  believe  that  no  epigraj)li,  among  the 
thirty  tliousand  collected  in  Volume  VI. 
*»f  the  Corpus  Inscrijitionum  Lathiarum, 
makes  a  more  Drotound   inrinession  on 
tlie  mintl,  or  appeals  more  to  the  feel- 
ings, tlian  this  ollicial  report  of  a  state 
ceremony  wliich  took  jdace  190S  years 
ago,  and  was  attended  by  the  most  illus- 
trious men  of  the  age.     We  possessed, 
no  doubt,  ample  information  about  the 
event.     Tlie  oracle  of  the  Sibvl  referred 
to  by  Phlegon  and  Zosinms,  the  hymn 
of  Horace,  the  legends  and  designs  of 
the  medals  struck  for  the  occasion,  the 
account  of  Augustus  himself  on  the  An- 
cyran    moiumient,    tlie    descri])tions    of 
Suetonius,  of  Dion  Cassius,  of  Censori- 
nus,  had  made  us  acquainted  with  the 
leading  particulars ;  but  this  official  re- 
port,  engraved  by  decree  of  the   Sen- 
ate, immediately  after  the  close  of  the 
festivities,  on  a  pillar   i-aised  upon  the 
very  spot  where  they  took  place,  gives 
an    altogether  different    inqu'ession  :    it 
enables  us  to  take  a  personal  share  in 
the  pageant,  and  permits  us  to  follow 
with   raj)ture  Horace  leading  a  chorus 
of   fifty -four  young  men   and   girls   of 

^  I  Comuientaiii  dei  Ijiidi  Secolan  Aiigustei 
e  Stntriaiii  stoperti  iii  Iloina  suUa  spoiida  del 


patrician  birtli,  singing  the  carmen  s(V- 
fiihirr. 

There  is  such  a  note  of  simi)licity, 
common  sense,  order,  and  mutual  re- 
spect in  the  official  transactions  between 
Augustus,  the  Senate,  and  the  College 
of  the  Quindecimviri,  which  preceded, 
attended,  and  followed  the  celebration  ; 
in  the  resolutions  passed  by  the  several 
bodies ;  in  tlie  ])roclamations  addressed 
to  the  people  ;  in  the  material  arrange- 
ment of  the  festivities,  which  a  mass  of 
one  million  or  more  spectators  was  ex- 
pected to  attend,  that  a  lesson  in  civic 
dipuitv  could  be  learned  from  this  report 
by  modern  governments  and  corpora- 
tions. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  celebration 
of  the  games  had  been  pro})osed  and  dis- 
cussed at  least  two  years  before  by  those 
who  wished  to  impart  a  solemn  religious 
sanction  to  the  new  order  of  things  estab- 
lishetl  by  Augustus.  The  well-known 
verses  of  the  j'Eneid  VI.  792,  793, 

"  AiigiLstus  Cjesar,  Divi  genus,  aiirea  eoiidet 
Si  ec  Ilia," 

contain  a  direct  allusion  to  it,  although 
Virgil  died  in  19  li.  c.  It  is  probable 
that  a  great  deal  of  time  was  lost  in 
trying  to  settle  the  difficulty  about  the 
secular  cycle.  Once  admitted,  in  spite 
of  historical  evidence,  that  the  ludi  Ta- 
rentini  had  been  instituted,  not  to  avert 
unexi)ected  calamities,  but  to  solemnize 
the  coini)letioii  of  a  saeculum  in  the  life 
of  Rome,  it  became  necessary  to  alter 
the  duration  of  an  *'  age,"  and  make  it 
to  consist  of  one  hundred  and  ten  years. 
Whether  in  a  spirit  of  flattery  or  cre- 
dulity, the  high  priests,  the  Senate,  the 
Emperor,  the  poet  laureate,  the  people, 
all  agreed  upon  the  new  chronology, 
and  the  ludi  were  ordered  for  the  year 
737  A.  u.  €. ;  tliat  is,  17  B.  c. 

The  official  report  begins,  or  rather 
began  (the  first  lines  are  missing),  with 
the  request  presented  by  the  Quinde- 
cimviri to  the  Senate  to  take  their  pro- 

THVt'ic.  con  una  Illiistrazioiie  di  Teodoro  >h)miii- 
seii.      Itoiiia:   Tipoi^iafiu  Salviiicci.      l.SI»l. 


posals  into  consideration  ;  followed  by  a 
tlecree  of  the  Senate,  inviting  Augustus 
to  assume  the  direction  of  the  celebra- 
tion  and  arrange   its  details.     The  in- 
tervention of  the  Senate  was  a  necessi- 
ty ;  no  money  could  be  obtained  for  the 
purpose  from  the  treasury  without  the 
sanction  of  that  body.     Hence,  in   the 
record  of  the  games  under  Domitian,  we 
read  the  formula  ex  Senatus  consulto, 
the  meaning  of  which  is  purely  finan- 
cial.    In  this  case,  tlie  request  w^as  ad- 
dressed to  the  house  on  the  17th  of  Feb- 
ruary by  jMarcus  Agrippa,  president  of 
the  Quindecimviri    {marjlster  conlegU), 
standing  before  the  seat  of  the  consuls.^ 
What  a  scene  to  behold  !     We  can  pic- 
ture to  the  mind  the  two  consuls.  Gains 
Furnius  and  Junius  Silanus,  clad  in  their 
state  robes,  listening   to  the  speech   of 
the  great  statesman,  who  was  su|)ported 
by  twenty  colleagues,  all  ex-consuls,  and 
chosen  among  the  noblest,  the  richest, 
the  most  gallant  patricians  of  the  age. 
There  were  present :  Q.  ^Hus  Tul)ero, 
who  was  the  first  to  draw  up  a  maritime 
code,  the  principles  of  which  still  liold 
good  ;  Lucius  Arruntius,  whose  career  is 
described  on    a   pedestal    discovered  at 
Atina,  which  town  he  had  drained  and 
paved  at  his  own  expense  :  -  C.  Asinius 
Gallus,  consul  746  a.  u.  c.  ;  M.  Valerius 
Messalla  Messallinus,  to  whom  Tibullus 
addressed  a  congratulatory  poem  on  his 
election  to  the  Quindecimvirate  in  735. 
The  Senate  agrees  that  the  preparations 
for  the  festival,  the  building  of  temporary 
stages,  hippodromes,  tribunes,  scaffold- 
ings, should  be  carried  out  by  contrac- 
tors (redemptores),  and  that  the  treasury 
officials   should    provide   the    necessary 
funds. 

Lines  1-23  contain  a  letter  addressed 
by  Augustus  to  the  Quindecimviri,  detail- 
ing the  programme  of  the  performance, 
the  number  and  quality  of  persons  who 
had  to  take  an  official   part  in  it,  the 

*  The  report  of  the  year  204  A.  d.  describes 
how  the  ''.rr  /•//•/  sarris  fan'nnf/is  ante  suygpstum 
amplissimorum  ronmlnm  constiterunt.'' 


dates  of  days  and  hours,  the  number 
and  quality  of  the  victims.  The  pro- 
gramme was  very  likely  drawn  up  by 
C.  Ateius  Capito,  the  eminent  jurist  and 
founder  of  a  school  of  jurisprudence, 
who  was  considered  at  the  same  time  the 
leading  authority  on  religious  ceremo- 
nials. 

Two  clauses  are  especially  notewor- 
thy in  the  imperial  manifesto:  First, 
that  during  the  tr'iduum  of  June  1-3  the 
court-houses  should  be  closed,  and  judges 
should  not  sit  on  their  benches.  '*  Dili- 
genter  memineritis  litibus  per  eos  dies 
non  esse  praestandam  audientiam !  "  Sec- 
ond, the  invitation  addressed  to  the  la- 
dies in  mourning  requests  them  to  give 
up  for  this  occasion  that  sign  of  grief. 
The  date  of  the  manifesto  is  lost,  bat 
can  be  indirectly  fixed  at  March  24. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  tliis  document 
the  College  of  the  Quindecimviri  meets, 
and,  acting  on  the  instructions  therein 
contained,  decides  that  one  or  more  cop- 
ies shall  be  exhibited  in  public  {albojiro- 
posltce),  so  that  the  regulations  for  the 
ceremonies  may  be  made  known  not  only 
to  tliose  members  of  the  college   who 
had  been  prevented  from  attending  the 
meeting,  but  to  the  general  public.     The 
same  day  the  college  decides  tlie  partic- 
ulars concerning  tw^o  ceremonies,  called 
respectively    dlstrlbutlo   svffimentontm 
and  acceptio  frugiim.     In  the  first,  the 
Quindecimviri  were  wont   to  distribute 
among  the  Roman  citizens  torches,  sul- 
phur, and  bitumen,  by  means  of  which 
they  were  to  purify  themselves.     I  be- 
lieve   that    these   materials   were   used 
chiefly  in  illuminating  the  city,  and  espe- 
cially the  neighborhood  of  the  Taren- 
tum,  where  scenic  plays  were  performed 
at  night  on  a  temporary  stage.      The 
second    relates    to    the   distribution   of 
wheat,  barley,  and  beans,  which  were  to 
be  offered  to  the  Fates  or  to  the  actors 
in  the  dramatic  representations.     These 

^  '*^ee  Corpus  Inscriptioniim  Latiiiaruni,  vol.  x. 
505."). 


150 


The  Pafjcmtt  at  Home  In  ike   reur  17  B,    C.     [February, 


1892.] 


distributions  were  to  be  made  to  enor- 
mous masses  of  people;  and  although 
Roman  crowds  were,  as  a  rule,  models 
of  behavior,  it  was  necessary  to  make 
arrangements  by  which  as  little  time 
as  possible  should  be  consumed.  Four 
places  of  distribution  are  established, 
therefore,  instead  of  one,  and  three  morn- 
ings are  appointed,  the  26th,  27th,  and 
28th  of  May.  May  29,  30,  and  31  are 
named  as  days  for  tlie  frugum  acceptio. 
Each  centre  of  distribution  is  placed  un- 
der tlie  supervision  of  four  members  of 
the  college,  a  total  of  sixteen  delegates. 
The  places  indicated  in  the  programme 
are:  (a)  the  platform  in  front  of  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus  on 
the  Capitol;  (h)  the  area  in  front  of 
the  temple  of  Jupiter  Tonans,  near  tlie 
gates  of  the  Capitol ;  (e)  the  portico  of 
the  Dan  aids,  in  front  of  the  tem})le  of 
Apollo  on  the  Palatine ;  (d)  the  temple 
of  Diana  on  the  Aventine.  The  third 
distributing  station,  which  in  the  report 
of  the  year  17  b.  c.  is  described  as  in 
Palatlo  (tnte  ivdem  ApoIUnis  ui  porflru 
elus,  in  the  report  of  204  A.  i).  is  called 
ad  Romam  Qifudratam.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  term  will  be  duly  appre- 
ciated by  students  of  Roman  topogra- 
phy. It  is  an  established  fact  that  the 
Roma  Quadrata  had,  strictly  speaking, 
nothing  to  do  with  the  city  itself  and 
with  its  primitive  shape.' 

The  Roma  Quadrata  was  an  altar, 
made  of  roughly  sqiiare<l  stones,  erected 
on  the  site  where  tlie  instruments  used 
by  the  founders  of  the  city  in  tracing 
the  furrow  (sulcus  primigenius)  had 
been  buried.  Considering  the  absolute 
ignorance  of  ancient  writers  cm  this  sub- 
ject, and  the  almost  absurd  definitions 
they  give  of  the  Roma  Quadrata,  we 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  al- 
tar had  been  removed,  or  dismantled, 
or  buried    by  Augustus  when  lie  built 

^  This  nin(h-(lel)att*(l  <|ii»»stion  lias  been  i-e- 
sumorl  lately  by  FrotVssoi  Piooiinl  in  a  nienioir, 
yet  unpublisljed,  rea.l  at  tlu'  sittiiio  of  tbeUer- 
liiuii  Institute  December  17,  IvSJM),  and   by  Pru- 


the  temple  of  Apollo  and  the  portico  of 
the  Danaids.  The  report  of  204  A.  d. 
shows  that  our  oj)inion  was  wrong,  and 
that  the  old  altar,  the  most  venerable 
monument  of  Roman  history,  had  sur- 
vived the  vicissitudes  of  time,  and  the 
transformation  of  the  Palatine  from  the 
cradle  of  the  city  into  the  palace  of  the 
Caesars. 

The  next  day,  March  25,  the  Quin- 
decimviri  meet  again,  but  the  resolu- 
tions passed  are  not  known,  because 
lines  37-45,  which  contain  the  minutes 
of  the  meeting,  are  in  such  a  frag- 
mentary state  as  to  convey  no  mean- 
ing. Tlie  place  of  meeting  is  indicated 
by  the  words  pro  wde,  *'  before  the 
temple,"  very  likely  of  Apollo,  in  which 
the  Sibylline  books  were  kept.  The  con- 
nection between  the  Quindecimviii  and 
these  books  is  too  well  known  to  be 
dwelt  upon  here;  but  I  mention  it  be- 
cause of  the  light  it  throws  on  a  discov- 
ery of  great  importance,  which,  although 
made  two  centuries  ago,  is  not  yet  known 
to  students. 

The  written  oracles  supposed  to  con- 
cern the  Roman  commonwealth  were 
originally  kept  in  a  stone  coffer,  and 
deposited  in  one  of  the  crypts  of  the 
Capitol.  The  privilege  of  consulting 
those  oracular  books  on  all  occasions  of 
state  was  given  to  two  priests,  called  du- 
7imvh'l  sdcrorum.  They  could  not  open 
the  stone  coffer,  however,  without  a  de- 
cree of  the  Senate.  In  388  A.  u.  C.  eight 
priests  were  added  to  the  first  two,  and 
later  on  the  number  was  increased  to 
fifteen  ;  from  wlience  they  were  called 
decern r Irl  or  fpi indec im v ir'i.  Julius  Cae- 
sar added  a  sixteenth,  and  Augustus  was 
permitted  by  the  Senate  to  enlarge  the 
number  without  restriction.  The  title 
of  Quindecimviri  was  retained  even 
when  the  number  amounted  to  forty  and 
sixty.     The  number  of  those  present  at 

feRsor  Otto  Hiehter  in  liis  pamphlet  Die  Alt- 
este  Woliiistatto  des  luimiscbeii  ^'olkes,  Berlin, 
b'>!>l.  I  believe  the  last  word  lias  not  yet  been 
said. 


The  PdfjetnU  at  llamc  in  the    Fef/r  17  IL    (7. 


151 


the  (^elebiation  of  the  year  17  was  twen- 
ty-one. 

The  old  Sibylline  books  were  destroyed 
in  the  fire  which  wasted  the  Capitol  in 
()71  A.  u.  C.     During  the  dictatorship  of 
Sulla  deputies  were  sent  to  Asia  Minor 
to  collect  whatever  verses  tradition   at- 
tributed to  the  Sibylla  Erythraea,  which 
were    almost   a   thousand    in    number. 
Augustus  gathered    from    the  same  re- 
gion, from  the   islands,  of   the   ^gean 
Sea,  and   from  Africa   more  than  two 
thousand  volumes  of  Greek  and  Latin 
verses  which  passed  under  the  names  of 
the  Sibyls.     They  were  carefully  exam- 
ined one  by  one  :  those  apocryphal  were 
given   up  to   the  pnHor  ui^anus  and 
burnt  in  public;  those  considered  gen- 
uine were  deposited  in  two  gilt  cases  in 
a  recess  of  the  temple  of  Apollo,  imme- 
diately under  the  pedestal  of  the  statue. 
The  safe-keeping  of  the  precious  books 
was  entrusted  again  to  the  Quindecim- 
viri.    The  last  account  we  find  of  them 
belongs  to  the  year  363  A.  d.     In  tlie 
night   between    the    18tli   and   19th  of 
March    the   temple  of   Apollo  was   de- 
stroyed by  fire.    The  only  objects  which 
the  firemen,  led  by  Apronianus,  prefect 
of  the  city,  could  rescue  from  the  wreck 
were  the  Sibylline  books.     Their  final 
destruction  is  attributed  to  Honorius  antl 
Stilicho. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  recess  in 
which  they  had  been  safely  kept  for 
four  centuries  was  rediscovered  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  Pietro  Sante  Bar- 
toli  describes  it  in  his  Recollections  of 
Roman  Discoveries  in  the  following 
words :  — 

*'In  the  garden  of  Duke  Mattel  on 
the  Palatine  [which  contains  the  ruins 
of  Apollo's  temple],  in  the  course  of  the 
excavations  made  under  the  pontificate 

^  "O  Goddess,  whether  you  choose  the  title 
of  Liicina  or  (lenit^ilis,  multiply  our  offspring, 
and  prosper  the  (/rrrces  of  the  Senate  in  relation 
to  the  joininp^  of  women  in  we<lloek,  and  the 
matrimonial  law." 

-  In  the  year  7-'.'>  Auj^ustus  revived  the  old 
Roman  <M»nstitution  whieh  forbade  citizens  to 


of  Alexander  VII.  [1655-67],  several 
fluted  columns  of  f/lallo  antlco  were  found 
[the  columns  of  the  portico  of  the  Dana- 
ids,  described  by  Propertius],  some  stat- 
ues in  fragments  [the  statues  of  the 
Danaids],  and,  above  all,  a  recess,  the 
walls  of  which  were  lined  witli  silver 
plates.  There  were  marks  on  these 
plates  of  still  more  precious  ornaments, 
as  if  they  had  been  studded  with  gems. 
The  excavators,  ignorant  of  the  value  of 
these  remains,  broke  the  silver  plates  in 
pieces,  and  sold  the  fragments  to  a  man 
named  Palombo,  a  servant  of  Cardinal 
Nini." 

To  come  back,  however,  to  the  report 
of  the  ludi.  May  23  the  Senate  meets 
in  the  Septa  Julia,  the  portico  just  built 
by  Agrippa  between  the  Via  Flaminia 
and  his  baths,  the  remains  of  which  are 
still  visible  under  the  Palazzo  Doria  and 
the  church  of  S.  Maria  in  Via  Lata. 
Two  resolutions  are  passed  by  the  house 
in  connection  with  the  games.  To  the 
first  resolution  Horace  alludes  in  verses 
17-20  of  his  hymn  :  — 

"  Rite  matures  aperire  partus 
Lenis,  Ilithyia,  tuere  matres, 
Sive  tu  Lucina  probjis  vocari 
Seu  Genitalis.'"  ^ 

Among  the  penalties  imposed  on  men 
and  women  who,  in  spite  of  the  law 
against  celibacy,'-^  had  remained  single 
between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  fifty 
years,  there  was  the  prohibition  of  at- 
tending public  festivities  and  state  cer- 
emonies. The  Senate,  considering  the 
extraordinary  case  of  tlie  ludi  saeculares, 
which  none  amongst  the  living  had  seen 
or  would  see  again,  takes  away  the  pro- 
hibition. 

The  second  resolution  provides  for  the 
erection  of  two  commemorative  pillars, 
one  of  bronze,  the  other  of  marble,  upon 

live  unmarried.  In  his  lex  de  tnarttandis  ordi- 
nihus  rewards  are  offered  to  those  willing  to 
obey  it,  and  punishment  or  fines  imposed  for 
celibacy.  In  7<»J  he  made  another  law  on  the 
same  subject,  '['he  first  is  known  by  the  name 
lex  Julio,  the  second  as  Popio  Poppcca. 


im 


77/ r   Pfff/eant  at  Home  ///   thr    Tear  17  B.    C.      [Fobniary, 


181)2.] 


With  the  X'ujht, 


153 


which  the  official  report  of  the  celebra- 
tion should  be  eiicrraved.  Of  these  two 
pillars,  the  one  cast  in  bronze  is,  most 
likely,  lost  forever ;  the  marble  pillar  is 
the  very  one  recovered  on  the  bank  of 
the  Tiber  September  20,  1890.  the  in- 
scription on  which  we  are  trying  to  make 
clear. 

In  a  final  sitting  held  by  the  Quinde- 
cimviri  JMay  2.">  the  proi^ranime  is  speci- 
fied in  its  last  details.  It  is  divided  into 
six  ])arts.  as  follows  :  — 

First  nioht.  l)etween  May  31  and  Jmie 
1 .  to  l)e  sacred  to  the  Fates,  Motpat ; 
first  day  to  Jupiter  Optinuis  Maxinms. 
Second  night  to  the  Ilithyia?,  dau<;hters 
of  Hera;  second  day  to  Juno  Regina. 
Third  night  to  Mother  Earth ;  third  day 
to  Apollo  and  Diana. 

The  celebration,  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  word,  l)egan  al  the  second  liour  of 
the  niglit  of  i\Iay  .*>1.  Sacrifices  were 
offered  to  tlie  Fates,  on  altars  erected 
between  the  Tarentnni  and  tlie  banks  of 
the  Tiber,  where  S.  Giovanni  dei  Fio- 
rentini  now  stands,  and  other  ceremo- 
nies were  performed  on  a  wooden  stage 
ilhnninated  l>y  lights  and  fires.  Tins 
teni|)orary  theatre  was  nnpro\'ided  with 
seats  ;  tlie  re})()rt  calls  it  ''a  stage  without 
a  theati'e '"  (sctena,  (pn)i  thef/tn/nt  atj- 
leeiini)  /lofifidf,  rrt/llis  j)fisifis  se(h'Ifh//s). 

Ill  tlie  next  day's  ])erforniances.  and 
those  of  June  2  and  3,  which  took  place 
on  the  Capitol  and  on  the  Palatine,  by 
tlie  teni])les  of  Jui)iter  an<l  Juno,  and  of 
Apollo  and  Diana,  the  following  order 
was  observed  in  the  official  pageant : 
first  came  Augustus  as  Emperor  and 
as  Pontit'ex  Maxinms.  the  consuls,  the 
Senate,  the  Quindecimviri  and  other  col- 
leges of  ])riests ;  then  followed  the  Ves- 
tal Virgins,^  and  a  grouj)  of  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  matrons,  as  many  as  there 

'  In  llu'  it'})(>it  of  2(M  \.  o.,  two  Vestals.  Nii- 
inisia  Maxiinillii  and  Teroiiti.i  Flavula,  ar»'  dis- 
lini-tly  miMitioiKMl  as  standint;-  noar  thn  Ktiipress 
.lalia  Doimia.  Tlioir  statues  and  cidojuies  were 
iliseovored  in  isS-'i.  in  the  Atriinii  Vesta>.  Tlie 
datf  inserihed  ou  Xuniisia's  jiedestal  is  the 
year  2'\\.     Slie  piesided  over  llie  sisteiluHHl  at 


were  years  in  the  sjeculum.  selected  from 
among  the  most  exemjdary  /a  at  res  fa- 
mUianmi  above  twenty -five  years  of  age. 
Twenty  -  seven  boys  and  twenty-seven 
girls  of  patrician  descent,  with  both  par- 
ents living  {patrhtil  et  matrlmi),  were 
enrolled  on  June  3  to  sing  the  hymn 
composed  expressly  by  Horace:  carmkx 

COMPOSITIT    Q.    HOKATIUS    FLACCUS.       So 

the  report  says  in  line  149.  The  first 
stanzas  of  the  beautiful  canticle  were 
sung  when  the  ])rocession  was  on  its  way 
from  Apollo's  temple  to  the  Cai)itol.  the 
middle  ones  Ijefore  Jupiter's  temple,  the 
last  on  the  way  l)ack  to  the  Palatine. 
This  is.  at  least,  the  interpretation  given 
by  Monmisen  to  lines  147-149  of  the 
report,  which,  taken  literally,  would  sig- 
nify that  the  whole  hymn  was  sunir 
twice,  once  on  the  Palatine,  again  on  the 
Capitcd.  Tliis  seems  hardly  possible.  In 
the  first  jdace,  the  canticle  is  addressed 
to  *vPhcebus  silvarumque  ])otens  Di- 
ana." and  it  would  have  sounded  out  of 
place  if  sung  entire  before  Jupiter's  al- 
tar ;  in  the  second  place,  it  is  too  long 
(seventy-six  verses)  to  have  admitted  of 
a  re])etition  the  same  day.  I'lie  accom- 
paniments were  played  by  the  orchestra 
and  the  trumpeters  of  the  official  choir 
(ffluriftPS  et  fidiehies  qui  sarris  j)nbliris 
p/'(tsto  s/uft'-). 

I  wish  these  lines  might  fall  under 
the  eyes  of  my  illustrious  friend  Alma 
Tadema,  and  give  hini  an  ins])iration  foi- 
one  of  liis  masterpieces.  The  scene  of 
magnificence  and  beauty  which  the  Ro- 
man citizens  beheld  on  the  morning  of 
June  3,  17  b.  c,  can  be  felt  and  seen  as 
in  a  dream,  but  baffles  descrij)tion.  Ima- 
gine the  grouj)  of  fifty-four  young  patri- 
cians, clad  in  snow-white  tunics,  crowned 
with  flowers,  and  waving  branches  of 
laur(d,   led  by   Horace   down  the  Vicus 

least   fourteen    yeai-s.   and  was   succeeded  by 
Terentia  Flavola  in  21."). 

-  Tlie  rolumharid  of  these  tthin'ms  and  Ji(fi- 
cirns  weie  discovered  in  1.S7-I,  under  my  super 
vision,  near   the  ehureh   of  S.  Eusehio   on   tlie 
Escjniline. 


iVpoUinis,  the  street  which  led  from  the 
Summa  Sacra  Via  to  the  middle  of  the 
Palatine,  and  the  Sacra  Via,  to  sinjr  the 
praises  of  the  immortal  gods, 

"  Quibus  septem  placuere  collesi  " 

In  these  three  days  and  nights  Augus- 
tus gave  evidence  of  a  truly  remarkable 
strength  of  mind  and  body,  never  miss- 
ing a  ceremony,  and  performing  himself 
the  sacrifice  of  the  victims.  Nine  lambs 
and  nine  goats  were  slain  the  first  night, 
in  honor  of  the  Fates  ;  a  bull  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  in  honor  of  Jupiter. 
The  second  night  he  offered  twenty-seven 
cakes  to  the  Ilithyiae.  These  cakes,  as 
well  as  those  offered  to  Apollo  and  Di- 
ana at  the  close  of  the  triduum,  were  of 
three  kinds.  The  first,  called  llbifm,  was 
(H)mposed  of  flour  and  grated  cheese  ;  the 
recape  is  given  by  Cato  (De  Re  Rustica, 
75 ) .  The  second,  called popanus.  was  an 
old  (ireek  concoction,  not  unlike  Cato's 
cake.  The  recipe  of  the  third,  called 
<j>OoU,  is  given  by  Athenteus,  a  mixture  of 
•rated  cheese,  honey,  and  aniseed  sifted 


g 


tlirough  a  copper  sieve  and  rolled  to- 
gether. On  the  morning  of  the  second 
day  a  cow  was  sacrificed  to  Juno,  and  the 
next  night  a  pregnant  sow  to  Mother 
Earth.  Agrippa  shows  less  power  of  en- 
durance than  his  friend  and  master,  Au- 
gustus ;  he  appears  only  in  the  daytime, 
helping  the  Emperor  in  addressing  sui> 
plications  to  the  gods  and  inunolating  the 
victims. 

I  cannot  close  this  article  in  a  better 
way  than  by  quoting  the  text  of  these 
supplications,  truly  admirable  in  their 
simplicity  :  — 

"  O  F'ates  [or  Jui)iter,  Juno,  etc.],  as 
it  is  written  in  those  books  [meaning 
the  Siby nines],  I  have  duly  offered  to 
you  a  sacrifice.  ...  I  entreat  you  to 
increase  the  power  and  majesty  of  the 
Roman  people,  both  at  home  and  abroad  ; 
to  protect  forever  the  Latin  name  ;  to 
give  to  the  Roman  ^^eople  immunity  from 
evils,  victory,  health.  Be  merciful  and 
benevolent  to  the  Roman  people  and  their 
legions,  to  the  College  of  the  Quindecim- 
viri, to  myself,  to  my  house  and  family." 

Rodolfo  LancianL 


WITH 'THE   NIGHT. 

O  DOUBTS,  dull  passions,  and  base  fears. 

That  harassed  and  oppressed  the  day. 
Ye  poor  remorses  and  vain  tears, 

That  shook  this  house  of  clay  : 

All  heaven  to  the  western  bars 

Is  glittering  with  the  darker  dawn  ; 
Here  with  the  earth,  the  night,  the  stars. 

Ye  have  no  place :  begone ! 

A rch ibald  Lampnmn. 


164 


Dijit  Ormm, 


[February, 


DON  ORSINO. 


IV. 

The  rage  of  speculation  was  at  its 
height  in  Kome.  Thousands,  perhaps 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  persons  were 
embarked  in  enterprises  which  soon  af- 
terwards ended  in  total  ruin  to  them- 
selves, and  in  very  serious  injury  to 
many  of  the  strongest  financial  bodies 
in  the  country.  Yet  it  is  a  fact  worth 
recording  that  the  general  principle  upon 
which  affairs  were  conducted  was  an 
honest  one.  The  land  was  a  fact,  the 
buildings  put  up  were  facts,  and  there 
was  actually  a  certain  amount  of  capital, 
of  genuine  ready  money,  in  use.  The 
whole  matter  can  be  explained  in  a  few 
words. 

The  population  of  Rome  had  increased 
considerably  since  the  Itfilian  occupation, 
and  house-room  was  needed  for  the  new- 
comers. Then  the  partial  execution  of 
the  scheme  for  beautifying  the  city  had 
destroyed  great  numbers  of  dwellings  in 
the  most  thickly  populated  parts,  and 
more  house-room  was  needed  to  compen- 
sate the  loss  of  habitations,  while  exten- 
sive lots  of  land  were  suddenly  set  free 
and  offered  for  sale  upon  easy  conditions 
in  all  parts  of  the  town. 

Those  who  availed  themselves  of  these 
opportunities  before  the  general  rnsli  be- 
gan realized  immense  i)rofits,  especially 
when  they  had  some  capital  of  their  own 
to  begin  with.  But  capital  was  not  in- 
dispensable. A  man  could  buy  his  lot 
on  credit ;  the  banks  were  ready  to  ad- 
vance him  money  on  notes  of  hand,  in 
small  amounts  at  high  interest,  where- 
with to  build  his  house  or  houses.  When 
the  building  was  finished,  the  bank  took 
a  first  mortgage  upon  the  property  ;  the 
owner  let  the  house,  paid  the  interest  on 
tlie  mortgage  out  of  the  rent,  an.l  pock- 
eted the  difference  as  clear  gain.  In  the 
majority  of  cases  it  was  the  bank  itself 


which  sold  the  lot  of  land  to  the  specula- 
tor. It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  the  only 
money  which  actually  changed  hands  was 
that  advanced  in  small  sums  by  the  bank 
itself. 

As  speculation  increased,  the  banks 
could  not  afford  to  lock  up  all  the  small 
notes  of  hand  they  received  from  vari- 
ous quarters.     This  paper  became  a  cir- 
culating medium  as  far  as  Vienna,  Paris, 
and  even  London.   The  crash  came  when 
Vienna,  Paris,  and  London  lost  faith  in 
the  paper,  owing,  in  the  first  instance,  to 
one  or  two  small  failures,  and  returned 
it  upon  Rome.     The  banks,  unable  to 
obtain  cash  for  it  at  any  price,  and  be- 
ing short  of  ready  money,  could  then  no 
longer  discount  the  speculator's  further 
notes  of  hand  ;  so  that  the  speculator 
found  himself  with  half-built  houses  upon 
his  hands,  which  he  could  neither  let,  nor 
finish,  nor  sell,  and  owing  money  upon 
bills  which  he  had  expected  to  meet  by 
giving  the  bank  a  mortgage  on  the  now 
valueless  property.     That  is  what  took 
place  in  the  majority  of  cases,  and  it  is 
not  necessary  to  go  into  further  details, 
though  of  course  chance  played  all  the 
usual  variations  upon  the  theme  of  ruin. 
Wliat  distinguishes  tlie  period  of  spec- 
ulation in  Rome  from  most  other  mani- 
festations of  the  kind  in  Europe  is  the 
prominent  part  played  in  it  by  the  old 
landholding  families,  a  number  of  which 
ruined  themselves  in  wild  schemes  which 
no  sensible  man  of  business  would  have 
touched.     This  was  more  or  less  the  re- 
sult of  recent  changes  in  the  laws  regu- 
lating the  power  of  persons  making  a 
will. 

Previous  to  1870  the  law  of  primo- 
geniture was  as  much  respected  in  Rome 
as  in  England,  and  was  carried  out  with 
considerably  greater  strictness.  The 
heir  got  everytliing  ;  the  other  children 
got  practically  nothing  but  the  smallest 


